- President Bush's new campaign ads are on the air and
generating unintended consequences.
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- Nov. 2, of course, will tell us if these ads were effective.
We do not need to wait until November to know, however, that these ads
are some of the most cynical, tasteless, deceptive and exploitative the
nation has ever seen.
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- I have seen the ads, by the way. They make heavy visual
use of the charred, smoldering remains of the World Trade Center. One clip
even shows firefighters ferrying what appears to be the flag-draped body
of a terrorist victim.
-
- Remember now, these ads are the work of the same George
W. Bush who, when seeking more money from Congress in 2003 to fight terrorism,
said: "I have no ambition whatsoever to use this as a political issue."
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- The president lied. The World Trade Center tragedy is
being used politically. Americans can see for themselves by watching the
ads on TV.
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- Although some families whose loved ones died during the
attacks support the ads, many others do not. Andrew Rice of Oklahoma, whose
brother died in the south tower, said on national television that he thought
the image of "a real dead body" was "irresponsible to use
in such a context." One relative's objection is enough cause to pull
the ads.
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- The International Association of Fire Fighters, which
supported Sen. John Kerry in the primaries, has asked the Bush campaign
to take the commercials off TV.
-
- Obviously, the ads are intended to portray Bush as "a
steady leader" during dangerous times. To my mind, the ads perpetuate
the myth of Bush's leadership. I say myth because Bush did what any person
in the White House would have done: stayed on TV reading speeches (which
he did not write) that consoled the nation and promised to bring the terrorists
to justice.
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- And anyone in the White House at this time would have
sent the U.S. military into Afghanistan to topple the Taliban. Americans
would have demanded as much.
-
- A smart person in the White House would not have raced
into Iraq, however. Bush did. And by doing so, he has increased terrorist
threats in places where they did not exist with such ferocity. Only Republican
ideologues claim that the world, including the United States, is safer
now. Given the number of their flights that have been canceled, we would
be hard pressed to find many officials of British Airways who believe the
world is safer.
-
- Such a state of affairs does not reflect steady leadership.
It reflects the poor leadership of a man hell-bent on invading Iraq long
before the World Trade Center attacks.
-
- The Bush commercials exploit the suffering of the surviving
relatives and friends of the dead, and they abuse the fears of the nation.
-
- In an editorial, even the staid New York Times assails
the president for his tastelessness: "When we think of 9/11, we think
of loss, and of the heroism of average people who reached out in ways great
and small to help their fellow men and women. Any political candidate who
attempts to piggyback onto those emotions deserves to be shunned by the
electorate."
-
- Bush and his supporters, of course, are defending the
ads. Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a Republican, got into the
act - after the Bush campaign asked for his help - and praised the ads
and Bush's leadership.
-
- "Sept. 11 is the defining event of our times,"
Giuliani said. "This was a shared experience that the American people
have all been through together."
-
- Giuliani has the same problem that Bush has: The World
Trade Center tragedy created a myth of great leadership around the former
mayor. Does anyone remember that Hillary Clinton ran Giuliani out of the
New York Senate race? Does anyone remember that before the attacks many
New Yorkers viewed Giuliani as an adulterer and a bully?
-
- As with Bush, Giuliani happened to have been in office
at the time of the attacks. He, too, delivered speeches that consoled residents.
Nothing else about Giuliani changed. Many New Yorkers simply forgave his
warts in the aftermath of the terror. Anyone who had been the mayor following
the attacks would have done what Giuliani did.
-
- As with Bush, Giuliani's apotheosis is the result of
his merely being in office at the time of the tragedy and for performing
the duties expected of him.
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- Campaigns should be run on records. They should not prey
on the suffering and fears of those who will vote.
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- © Copyright 2002-2004 St. Petersburg Times. All
rights reserved
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- http://www.sptimes.com/2004/03/07/Columns/Bush_and_the_myth_of_.shtml
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